Reward Gateway to launch global wellbeing allowance for staff

Reward Gateway is to launch a wellbeing allowance and holiday buy and sell for its 330 staff worldwide.

The two new benefits, which will launch in July, will be available to all employees based in six countries worldwide.

The wellbeing allowance, called Wellbeing Choice, is a quarterly allowance paid through payroll, which employees can use to purchase items from a list of 25 wellbeing-based benefits, surrounding physical, mental and financial health.

In the UK, the wellbeing allowance will total £500 a year. Benefits employees can purchase include gym membership, fitness equipment such as kettlebells and yoga mats, mindfulness courses, retreats, personal training sessions, wearable technology, meditation courses, life coaching, sleep therapy and financial advice.

There are two pre-requisites to the scheme; the benefits employees purchase must be for themselves and they must be something that staff can specifically set a goal for and report back on their progress.

Debra Corey (pictured), group rewards director at Reward Gateway, said: “It’s more that we can be partnering with [employees] on their journey and giving them not only financial support but also the emotional support. I think this will give people a lot more flexibility and also, not everybody wants physical [benefits], which is what a lot of programmes are all about.”

Also in July, Reward Gateway will increase its total level of paid holiday from 30 to 35 days for staff across all its locations. Corey said: “We increased it from 30 to 35 to go in line with our benefits principle of balance because we felt that although 30 days was good, we wanted more balance between work life and personal life.”

In addition to the extra paid time off, the organisation’s new Choose Your Package initiative will also allow staff to both buy and sell holiday days, in order to give employees greater flexibility.

“We want to take a step away from holiday trading and have people think about it more holistically,” Corey said. “We want people to think about are [they] selling the days because they want more money? Maybe [they’re] saving up for a big holiday next year and put that money aside, then the next year buy days, so it creates that connection between time off and salary. [They] choose what is more important for them and their personal life in that particular year.

“We really wrestled with this whole global aspect. With paid time off, 30 days in the US was fantastic already. I didn’t have to move it to 35 but again, you have to come up with your philosophy and strategy, and need to stick with it. But it’s difficult when you have different regulations and countries.”

The two new benefits are part of Reward Gateway’s developing reward structure, which it began to roll out in April 2016 with the launch of a one year, fully paid parental leave policy that is available for both men and women.